Summer Baths

She luxuriated in it, immersing herself to her nose. Looking in front of her at the water, she blew bubbles in the water, tickling her nose. With that, she raised her head out of the water and laid her head back on the stone, watching the stars chase each other across the sky. It was a wonderful way to spend the night, looking up to the spring sky while soaking up the heat, some wine and with the sakura trees blossoming. The spring breeze still carried some of winter’s cold touch, but it was also more refreshing than the winter’s cold but dry winds. Her bathrobe and towel lay neatly near her; there were also a comb and a flower pin for her hair.

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Somewhere, a woman pulled up her boots and strapped it. She turned and put the large knife into the hilt of her boots before pulling the legs of her pants over her boots to conceal them. Pulling on a pair of gloves, she picked up a medium-sized black cloth. She then veiled herself, binding her hair and covering the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible. Her deep brown eyes were determined and cold.

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The woman sighed under the moonlight. Looking up, she smiled. It was a fairly peaceful night, and there would be nothing to disturb the peace. She lifted the cup of sake to her lips and took a little sip. All was well in the world for now.

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No one saw her coming. One moment they were alive, the next their necks were spurting blood and they crumpled to the floor. She moved through the floors quickly and professionally. If they were not a threat, she would simply knock them out with a well placed blow, but sometimes she had to kill. Most of them were not expecting her, but she was expecting them. Reaching the fire exit, she began running up the stairs to reach to her destination.

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The killing spree continued. Making her way through the office building, she did not stop to count the dead, but kept her quick and deadly pace. As she reached the higher floors, she noted that the guards were getting more and more sophisticated.Their reaction time was faster, and although they did not know often that she was headed their way, they were very sharp. She had had to kill more of them compared to the earlier floors; most of them were about to contact their colleagues first and then try to shoot her. This was not an easy task, considering that the alarms had been defused. Her presence was totally “invisible” in the upper level rooms.

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The blond young woman got up from the water gracefully, making a large noise as she did. Quickly, she got out of the pool and pulled on her bathrobe, then hurrying on barefeet, she ran inside the house. She opened the door to a shrine and got to her knees in front of the altar, even though her hair was wet and she was dressed only in a bathrobe. The water dripped from her hair to the tatami mat as she prayed. In front of the altar, a black vase held blossoms of chrysthemum, an offering to the Goddess to whom she prayed. The incense stick was burning low.

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She removed a card from one of the dead men and swiped it through the machine. When it beeped, a retina scan followed, and she pulled the dead man’s head to the camera and held his head and eyebrows up so that he would not fall. The second beep opened the space below the monitor to reveal an old keyboard. She took a small bottle and sprayed it on the console. Certain letters jumped up at her, and she looked at them for a moment to ascertain the password.

Even as she did so, she was aware of the hunters closing in.

~~~~~

She looked up at the altar, and the two candles on the altar were shining bright, although they seemed to be dancing no thanks to the wind that was blowing into the room. To her dismay, the candles’ flame were then shortly snuffed out by the wind. Crying out, she began to howl, and then to her surprise the wind stopped blowing and the flames came back stronger than ever. She took this to be a very good omen, although she kept praying all the while.